A promotional site for New York State women entrepreneurs

Change and Risk

Holiday music was playing in the background at a beautiful, free civic symphony concert given by a shopping center in North Syracuse. I was drawn to the event because a woman entrepreneur I knew had opened up a second café in the center and wanted to show me her new venue.

In the midst of symphonic tunes, this woman told me about her six year struggle to keep her business afloat. The quaint venue she had, which was home to her restaurant, boutique and catering business, simply didn’t attract the clientele she needed to be profitable. Every year she contemplated closing the business and giving up on her dream.

The week she finally decided she would make the heart wrenching decision to close up shop, a woman who found the café through our business directory, approached her about opening up a larger, second café in their expanding center. After inspecting the space, which was double the size of her current café, with an affordable rental fee and automatic higher traffic pattern, she seized the opportunity. Proudly she told me she was making monthly profits since making the decision. I’m not sure which was more joyful – her smile or the music playing behind us.

If you have been struggling with making a profit, take some advice from this story. Women start companies to make money and create a financial income and future for themselves. We don’t intend our businesses to be hobbies where we dedicate time to something we love without generating revenue.

Today’s blog entry is to encourage you to think about whether or not you need to do something different to earn more of a profit in your business – especially if you have been struggling with making a profit for three to five years. You owe it to yourself to make some changes and those changes might involve larger risks.

Second, trust your instinct. Pay close attention to why you believe your business is not doing well. Is it location? Is it pricing? Is it a saturated marketplace? Is it your sales approach? Empty your gut instincts onto a piece of paper and then research the hard, cold facts of your business to see if your instincts are valid. Third, if you want to make your company profitable, seek counsel from a business advisor, revise your business plan and take the extra risks you need.

If you find yourself on the precipice of giving up, think of these two women who lived out the Women TIES mission by taking risks and working together collaboratively to produce a brighter revenue future for both companies. By making the right decision today, you can lead yourself to a more joyful and rich new entrepreneurial year.